I have a birthday in the right month for a few of my seasonal favourites - red figs and Bluff oysters. These figs are off our tree. Even with netting to protect it from the birds we cannot grow enough. When we drive around the lanes and byways we look for gate sale fruit and have found a grower not far from Ian in Bombay. I think the season is nearly at an end and the feast will be soon be over. The figs are simmered  in sugar, water and vinegar for at least 3 hours, drained and then dried for a couple of days over night in a fan oven at 50 to 60 degrees. We have hardly had a summer this year and most of our figs may never ripen.